Brighton vs Crystal Palace: Top scorer and key midfielder missing from squad as loan-linked star makes the bench

Looking to bounce back from a run of three games without a win, Albion welcome Palace to the Amex Stadium this afternoon (Sunday, December 15).

Hurzeler has made one change to the team which drew 2-2 at Leicester – with wide man Yankuba Minteh replacing striker Evan Ferguson.

Albion’s top scorer, Danny Welbeck – who has six league goals this season – is a notable absentee from the matchday squad.

The veteran striker missed the Fulham trip after suffering a ‘small issue’ at Southampton but appeared as a substitute at Leicester.

Also missing is midfielder Matt O’Riley.

The Athletic’s reporter Andy Naylor wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The absences of Danny Welbeck and Matt O'Riley from the Brighton squad are due to minor injuries.

"Danny Welbeck is still not 100 per cent right after the ankle injury he suffered against Southampton (from a source close to him).”

Julio Enciso – whose game-time has been limited this season and has been linked with a January loan move – is on the bench.

In his pre-match press conference, Hurzeler was asked by Sussex World what the mood has been like in camp after recent results – and is a game against Palace the perfect way to bounce back as form can often go out the window in these games.

He replied: “I think it's important to not let the results define yourself and then also define your mood. I think it's very important to stay predictable and to stay focused on the process and on the performances.

"I think that's crucial and if you only focus on the results your mood will be like this because when you win you are here, when you lose you are here. So that's getting unpredictable for everyone in the building and I think that's the worst thing that can happen.

“So stay consistent when you have a win, stay consistently predictable when you have a loss and focus on the process and that's the main thing. Every game, the next game is always the most important game so of course you can say that it's the right moment that we have a game against Palace but it's always the right moment to play the next game."

Crystal Palace are winless in their last six league games against Brighton.

Asked if he is keen to consolidate that winning mentality against their bitter rivals, Hurzeler said: “Every win is important and especially now in a derby the meaning is higher and I think it's important to not only talk about the nice performances we have, it's also about results in the end because this business is about results and we shouldn't be stubborn or naive.

"I think it's very important to see it the right way and to be also critical to ourselves and to say that we can't be happy with the results we get from the last games but in the end it shouldn't be artificial. It shouldn't be cramped, because if you go in the game and say we must win, we must win, it's not the right thing.

"It's about doing the things the right way you can influence and focusing on the things you can individually influence and also as a group and then I'm sure that the result will come because the journey is the right way. The process is the right way and we have to keep improving by being very critical and very honest to each other."

Hurzeler said he is ‘always impressed’ by how the players work and ‘how they react in bad periods’.

He added: “I'm impressed by the characters. It's not about being impressed after one game, it's more about being consistently impressed and that's what I am with this team because they have great characters, they stick together, they show togetherness.

"They show also that they can be honest to each other, that they can give each other honest feedback and I think especially in this period of time it shows your personality, it shows your characters.

"When you win every game it's the easiest thing in football but I think especially in this time you can prove your personality as a group and as individual players and show the right character."

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Lamptey, Dunk, Van Hecke, Estupinan, Rutter, Minteh, Baleba, Mitoma, Ayari, Pedro.

Subs: Steele, Igor, Gruda, Enciso, Adingra, Moder, Wieffer, Ferguson, McConville.